<p>Hi! This year I’m going into my senior year and Champlain College is probably my first choice in colleges.I take tons of advanced classes and I would like to major in Creative Writing. I was wondering what I should keep in mind if I want to get into Champlain? Do they look at weighted GPAs? When should you apply for early action and around what month do you usually hear back? How competitive do you think Champlain is going to be in 2013? Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi Hannah!
I’m glad to hear that Champlain is your first choice! It’s wonderful that you’ve taken on a challenging curriculum and proven your academic strength. That’s a good first step in looking strong in our applicant pool. We do look at whether or not your GPA is weighted, and we take note not just of that number but also of how competitive your courses are, and what your academic trend has looked like over the last four years. On top of your transcript, we’re also looking at your test scores, especially the writing scores, as they’ve been the most helpful for us in determining a student’s preparation for college academics. On top of that, I would recommend thinking about your recommendations and essay now, and starting to prepare for that. These are really valuable pieces that can help us learn a lot about how you’d fit here at Champlain. Since you are applying for our writing program (which is actually Professional Writing, but does have a creative writing component to it), you’ll also want to start thinking about what you’d like to submit for your portfolio. We’re usually looking for around 5 pieces of your best work, so start considering what you might like to send!</p>
<p>We don’t have Early Action, but we do have Early Decision. We have two different Early Decision deadlines; the first is November 15th, and the second is January 15th, so you’d want to make sure you get your information in before whichever deadline you choose. We send out our decisions exactly a month from that date, so if you applied for Early Decision 1, we’d put your letter in the mail on December 15th. If you decided to go with Regular Decision, our deadline is February 1st, and we send out our decisions around mid-to late-March. We had our most competitive year ever this year, and from the inquiries we’ve already had, it looks as though it will be the same way for this upcoming year. Keep working hard! We’re looking forward to reading your application. Please let me know if you have any further questions that I can assist you with!</p>